Railway wheel checking device



Oct. 1, 1946.

.M. w. GIESKIENG ET AL ,553 RAILWAY WHEEL CHECKING DEVICE 2 Sheets-Sheet1 Filed April 24, 1945 45/ 454% P v 45 if ATTORNEY.

Oct. 1,1946. M. w. GIESKIENG ETAL 2,468,553

RAILWAY WHEEL CHECKING DEVICE I 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 24, 1945 mmN5 Ef W W m A A TTOKNZIY.

BY I

Patented Oct. 1, 1946 UNITED STATES PATENT osmes .RAILWAY ZL ZCKINIGDEVICE MariOn W. Gieskieng and William A. 'CGiesk-ieng,

:Denver,-Golo.

v Application-elpfilz l, i945, Seriall'No.59.0080

Other objects-and advantages "residein the detaihconstruetion'oftheinventiomwhich is designed 'for simplicity, economy, and-efiiciency. These will -become more apparent from "the followingdescription.

In the 'following detailed description of the invention, reference ishad to the accompanying drawings whichformsa 'part hereof. 'Like n'u-=mera1s refer to like-parts'inall-views'ofthe drawings and throughoiit*the description.

-'In "the drawings:

Fig. l is l a 'planyiew' of one rail of'a railway track illustrating one'form of th invention in place thereon, the-opposite rail of *the'trackwould be similarly equipped;

Fig52-is an enlarged side View ofa portion'of the rail= of 'Fig. I;

Fig. 3 is a still 'further enlarged cross-section of the rail, taken onthe line 3-3, Fig. 1;

Fig. l is asim'ilar cross-section,"takem'on the line-'4-'4, Figi'2;

Fis -5 is a diagrammatic view' illustrating "the "various "circuitsemployed with the device of Fig.1; v

'fFig."6 is-a'planviewof on 'ra'il'of a' railway track, illustrating anI alternateform ofthe in- -verition in placethereon;

Fig. '7 is an enlarged side View of a "portion -'of the rail of Figf6;

' Fig.1; is a cross section through *onth-e line 88,Fig.i'7;'

"Fish 9 .is-a detail section" taken on the1ine"9-"9, *Eigsil;

"Fig. .10 isa similar: detail line :Hll 0,-:Fig. 8 and the railftakensectionrta'ken onithe Fig. 1-1 isi'a diagrammatic view-illustratingathe'eircuitsemployed inithe formeof Figvfi.

In:the fOIIIlaOf Figs. -1-5,:.a typicalrailway rail -isindicated .atill, .thettread portionbf a-wheel eat 14,;and'theiiange thereof at'25.eAplurality dftreadtilting members 'H are placed. along the outside faceof the rail 10, and. a plurality oft'iltiing'flange members l2.are"siniilarly .placed along theinsideio f "the rail '10.

"These members preferably consist of four sections of angleiron'approximate1y'3'2 'incheslon'g 22 on each side of the'rail."Similartiltingmembers would be similarly placedalongthe oppositerail ofthe track.

Each ofthefltiltin'g members H and I-Zterminates at'eachofitsextremities ina pivot'stud l3 welded to the member in the anglecrotchthereof. .Th-esestuds restin" receiving socketsinbracket'm'embe'rstl 4, which are secured to "theopposite sides ofthe webof "the rail by means of suitable attachment bolts I5. Thestuds maybeheld in place in th bracket members I 4 in any desired mannergsuchasby' means. of 'cotter' keys I 6.

The upperfacesmf the members II and !f12-are cut backat"theirextremities; as shown at N, to allow ispacefori' thebracketmembers 5 1'4 and still 'maintain the adiacentmembers in closely'sp'aced relation adajacentthe rail. A projecting'ea'r 8 is formed on orsecured to the mid-portiono'fithe .verticallegof eaehm'einber and i2. "Athreadupper legs of the angle .memloers fl and lz at-a .mally "theirinner e'd spring rod l9"passes through 'theweb of the "rail l0; and isclamped thereto by'meansoi suitable'elamphuts 2G.

The rod l 9 projects "Oppositely outward'from 'therail'andtthrough theopposite ears l'8.

.Afpair oflnner TSpliIigS 2| surround the rod 9 between "the members I Iand l2 and the web of the'ra'il, and arpair ofoutersprings2'2'are'p0-'sitioned ion e'ahTod .l 9' between the members -I l and .l 2 andterminalnuts' 23 on ithe'extremitiesof the rod'lS. The springslfZiandi22 maintain the slight incline downwardfrom thetop of therail.

The members fl l tare positioned 'so" thatno'redges are" closelyadjacent the outer face ;of the 'heaido'f the. rail and slightlythereabove so thattherim of the tread '24 of the wheel will depressthehorizontale'legs*'ofthe members and. swing thevertical legstheI'e'lifiQlltward1y.

'The .members 12 are positioned closely "adjacent theinner face ofthe"railheadat approximately one-halfthe normal flange depth therebelow.so that 'wh'enLtheWheelflange 25 passes 'therealong, 'it Will depress7' the horizontal "leg of the member 2 i2 and swing the verticali legEthereofoutwardly.

Naturally, should thelrim of the treadikbe broken awayjitfw'ill allow.the s'prin'g22 of? that member H 'tofforcethe vvertical :leg inwardly,and similarly, albrokenlflange 25 willtallow'the verticafleg of ithatmember !'2"to swingfinwardlylto'warjditheerail. A sWitchboxLZlBiissupported t below each o'fthemexnbers II and I2 u'ponlsuitablebra'cketmembers '85. 'These .boxesecontain swithes which are operatedinconsequence of the swinging movement of the vertical legs of thesemembers to operate a signal circuit such as shown in Fig. 5.

A tread switch blade 21 is mounted in those boxes below the members II,and a flange switch blade 28 is mounted in the boxes below the membersl2. The switch blades 21 and 28 are operated from the ears H3 in anydesired manner so as to swing-therewith and be electrically insulatedtherefrom.

When the blade 21 is swung outwardly with a normal wheel tread, itcloses a circuit to a contact 29. Should the tread of the wheel be wornhollow, its rim will travel on a lower plane and will therefore forcethe blade 21 further outwardly so that it will close a circuit with asecond contact 36. be broken away, it will allow the horizontal leg ofthe member II to rise, under the influence of the spring 22. This causesthe blade 21 to close a circuit with a third contact 3 The blade 28 isconnected by means of insulating spacers 32 with a second blade 33 and athird blade 34 so that all three will move in unison with the member I2.forces the blade 28 outwardly to close a circuit with a contact 35.Further outward moVe' ment, such as caused by a high flange, forces thethird blade 34 to close a circuit with a contact 36.

A broken flange allows the member IE to swing inwardly and upwardlyunder the influence of its spring 22 so that the. blade 33 will close acircuit with a contact 31. The contacts 29 and 31 are connected togetherby means of a jumper wire 38, and the contacts 3| and 35 are similarlyinterconnected by means of a second jumper wire 39.

The contact 38 is connected to a relay solenoid, which will be hereindesignated the hollow tread relay 40, by means of a conductor" 4|; thethird switch blade 34 is connected to a similar solenoid, hereindesignated the high flange relay 42, by means of a conductor 43; thesecondswitch blade 33 is connected to a similar solenoid, which Will beherein designated the broken flange relay 44, by means of a conductor45; and the first switch blade 28 is connected to a fourth solenoid,which will be herein designated the broken tread relay 46, by means of aconductor 41.

The solenoids 43, 44, and 46 are in circuit with a battery 58 through apositive lead 5|, and the solenoid 42 is in circuit with the battery 55through a negative lead 52. All of the relays control self-lockingarmatures 48 which close control circuits 49, 53, 54, and 55 to anydesired signals or indicating mechanisms.

Let us assume that a normal wheel is in place on the rail I0, as shownin Fig. 4 and as indicated in the diagram of Fig. 5. This closes thecontact 29 to the jumper wire 38. The circuit of the latter, however, isopen at the contact 31 so that no current flows. The contact 35 isclosed by the blade 28 to the jumper wire 39, but the circuit of thelatter is open at the contact 3| so that no current flows.

Let us now assume that a portion of the flange 25 is broken away. Whenthis broken-away portion comes into position above the tilting memberI2, it will swing the blades 28, 33, and 34 to the left in Fig. 5,causing the blade 33 to close the contact 31. Current can now flow frombattery 58 through the negative lead 52 to the switch blade 21, thecontact 29, the jumper 38, the con- Should the rim of the tread A normalflange 4 tact 31, the blade 33, and the conductor 45 to the brokenflange relay 44, thence returning to the battery through the positivelead 5|. This closes the armature 48 of this relay, energizing thecircuit 54 to any suitable indicating device or signal to give notice ofthe broken flange.

Should the tread of the wheel 24 be worn away so as to build up adangerously high flange 25, the blade 34 will be forced into contactwith the contact 36. This closes a circuit from the battery through thepositive lead 5|, the contact 36, the blade 34, the conductor 43, to thehigh flange relay 42, thence to the battery through the negative lead52. This closes the armature 48 ofv the circuit 53 to operate anydesired high flange signal.

A broken-away tread allows the spring 22 to force the blade 21 towardthe rail to close a circuit at the contact 3|. This allows current toflow from the battery through the negative lead 52, the blade 21, thecontact 3|, the jumper 39, the contact 35, the blade 28, the conductor41, to the broken tread relay 46, thence returning to the batterythrough the positive lead 5|. This operates the armature 48 of thisrelay to close circuit 55 to give any desired broken tread signal.

The rim of a hollow tread forces the vertical leg of the member stillfurther from the rail and causes the blade 21 to contact the contact 30.This closes a circuit from the battery 59 through the negative lead 52,the blade 21, the contact 3|], the conductor 4|, through the hollowtread relay 49, thence back to the battery through the positive lead 5|,operating the armature 48 of this relay to close circuit 49 to give anydesired "hollow tread signal.

In Figs. 6 to 11, inclusive, an alternate form of the invention is shownembodying the same principle of mechanical contact devices operated bythe wheels controlling electrical signal circuits. In this form, aseries of outside angleirons 56 articulated by hinge links 51 are placedalong the outside of the rail in a plane above the 45 top thereof, and asimilar series of inside angleirons 58 also articulated by the links 51are placed along the inside of the rail slightly below the top thereof.

Each outside angle-iron 56 is supported by two 50 brackets 59 from athreaded cross-rod 60 extending through the web of the rail Ill. Theangleirons 58 are similarly supported by means of two similar brackets6| extending to the rod 60.

The angle-irons are constantly urged upwardly 5 by means of compressionsprings 62 which rest upon spring blocks 63 on the rod 60. The springblocks 63 are constantly urged toward the rail H! by means of horizontalsprings 64. The spring blocks 63 are positioned in vertical post members60 65 having slotted openings 66 for the passage of the rod 60. Nuts 61stop the outward movement of the spring 64, and nuts 68 stop the outwardmovement of the brackets 59. The nuts 61 and 68 are spaced apart toallow inward and outward movement of the brackets 59 and 6|.

The normal position of the angle-irons 56 and 58 is indicated in brokenline at A in Fig. 8. When a Wheel moves between these members, 70however, they are forced outwardly to the solid line position of Fig. 8.Should a portion of the tread 24 of the wheel be broken away, the spring64 will push the angle-iron 56 toward the rail l0 into the dotted lineposition A. Further rotation of the wheel will cause the unbroken partof the tread to push the angle-iron t downwardly against the action ofthe spring 62.

The same action will take place on the opposite side of the rail, asshown in Fig. 11, should a portion of the flange 25 be broken away.Thus, whenever a break occurs between the rail and either of the members56 or 58, that member will move first inwardly toward the rail to aposition below the wheels, thence downwardly, as indicated by the insideangle-iron 58 in Fig. 11. This downward movement is employed to operatesignal circuits, as illustrated diagrammatically in Fig. 11.

The circuits include a battery 69, a broken tread relay l0, and a"broken flange relay H. A switch box 12 is placed beneath each of thevertical post members 65 with a switch-operating V plunger 13 extendingupwardly therefrom. The

switches in the boxes 12 are illustrated diagrammatically in Fig. 11,wherein a flange switch blade 14 is operated by the plunger which ispositioned beneath the angle-iron 58 and a tread switch blade 15 issimilarly operated by the plunger beneath the angle-iron 56. The bladesI4 and 15 are arranged, when depressed, to close contacts l6 and H,respectively. Both contacts 16 and H are in circuit with the battery 69.The blade 74 is connected by means of a conductor 18 with the relay 1|,and the blade 15 is similarly connected by means of a conductor 19 withthe relay 10. The relays control armatures 8|, of the self-locking type,which in turn control a broken tread circuit 82 and a broken flangecircuit 83 connected to any desired signal apparatus.

It can be readily seen that, should any of the angle-irons 58 bedepressed by a broken flange, the relay II will be energized to closethe broken flange circuit 83 and, similarly, should any of theangle-irons 56 be depressed, the circuit to the relay ill will be closedto close the broken tread circuit 82. The angle-irons 56 and 58 arerounded inwardly toward the rails at each extremity of the series, asshown at 84, to allow the wheels to enter therebetween withoutdepressing the angle-irons.

While a specific form of the improvement has been described andillustrated herein, it is desired to be understood that the same may bevaried, within the scope of the appended claims, without departing fromthe spirit of the invention.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed and desired securedby Letters Patent is:

l. A railway wheel checking device for attachment to a railway railcomprising: bracket members extending oppositely outward from each sideof said rail; tiltable metallic members supported between the pairs ofbracket members at each side of the said rail, the metallic members onthe outside of the rail being placed in the path of the tread of a wheelresting on said rail, and the metallic members on the inside of the railbeing' placed in the path of the flange of said 6 wheel sothat thepassage of a wheel will tilt the inner portions of said membersdownwardly;

' a vertical member on each of said metallic members extendingdownwardly from the axis thereof; a cross rod extending through the webof said rail and through said vertical members; spring means on saidcross rod at each side of each Vertical member to resiliently maintainsaid metallic members in their normal position; and signal means forindicating deviations of said vertical members from their verticalposition.

2. A railway wheel checking device for attachment to a railway railcomprising: bracket members extending oppositely outward from each sideof said rail; tiltable metallic members supported between the pairs ofbracket members at each side of the said rail, the metallic members onthe outside of the rail being placed in the path of the tread of a wheelresting on said rail, and the metallic members on the inside of the railbeing place in the path of the flange of said wheel so that the passageof a wheel will tilt the inner portions of said members downwardly; avertical member on each of said metallic members extending downwardlyfrom the axis there-.

of; a cross rod extending through the web of said rail and through saidvertical members; spring means on said cross rod at each side of eachvertical member to resiliently maintain said metallic members in theirnormal position; switch blades operable in consequence of the movementsof said vertical member; and circuits controlled by said switch bladesto give indications at predetermined positions of metallic members.

3. A railway wheel checking device for attachment to a railway railcomprising: bracket members extending oppositely outward from each sideof said rail; tiltable metallic members supported between the pairs ofbracket members at each side of the said rail, the metallic members onthe outside of the rail being placed in the path of the tread of a wheelresting on said rail, and the metallic members on the inside of the railbeing placed in the path of the flange of said wheel so that the passageof a wheel will tilt the inner portions of said members downwardly; avertical member on each of said metallic members extending downwardlyfrom the axis thereof; a cross rod extending through the web of saidrail and through said vertical members; spring means on said cross rodat each side of each vertical member to resiliently maintain saidmetallic members in their normal position; switch blades operable inconsequence of the movements of said vertical member; a contactpositioned in the path of the switch blade of the outer metallic memberto be closed when said member is depressed to a pre-determined position;and a signal device operable in consequence of the closing of a circuitat said contact.

MARION W. GIESKIENG. WILLIAM A. GIESKIENG.

